Penniless in a pricey paradise

Alex Birley of Cambridge had spent months saving the money for a trip to the Thai island of Phi Phi, and last September she paid the travel company Flying Eagles £521 for a return flight. All proceeded dreamily. The tickets turned up, her baggage reached its destination (both remarkable events for Shopping readers), the weather was fine and the island was all she had hoped. The only trouble was, when she tried to withdraw more cash she found her account was in the red.

Assuming that she'd somehow miscalculated her funds before leaving, Birley had to rein in all spending. "I was a female travelling alone and was worried about having money for hotels, meals, transport and emergencies," she says. "This meant I was unable to take any of the tourist trips I'd promised myself or bring back any gifts or mementos."

The mystery was solved the day after her return to the UK. An invoice arrived from Flying Eagles showing that the firm had taken a further £521 after she had left the country and was now demanding the same sum for a third time. Flying Eagles eventually admitted its mistake and agreed to refund the second sum and any bank charges. It refused, however, to consider any compensation for spoiling an expensive holiday. Instead it blamed Birley for not identifying and alerting the culprit while in Thailand.

"How would I have known that it was them that I needed to contact?" Birley protests. "The problem could have been caused by my bank or any of the other companies I deal with. To investigate would have involved expensive phone calls and I didn't have the money."

At the end of the unhelpful letter to her, Flying Eagles manager Lisa Price apologises that Birley had had to "chase numerous members of our staff to even respond to telephone calls. These levels of service are not typical of the way we operate." No? I've left three messages for this lady and have not had a response to any of them.

Fortunately, the Association of British Travel Agents (Abta) is more sympathetic. Birley has a case, a spokesman reckons, and can use Abta's conciliation service to lodge a claim. There's a £72 fee, but she will get that back if she wins.

No tickets - and no refund either

Anvita Matilal of Oxford and her boyfriend booked a holiday to Budapest through Expedia, but as the day of departure neared there was no sign of the tickets. Expedia promised that they were in the post and agreed to leave a duplicate at the airport if they didn't arrive in time.

They didn't arrive, and Expedia didn't leave duplicates, so it advised the couple to buy new seats at the airport and fax over the tickets for a refund. This adventure cost the couple an extra £350 and, 18 months later, they are still waiting for their money back. When Matilal calls, Expedia claims that either it needs to see the original tickets (which never arrived) or that the case is now so elderly that all record of it had been lost.

When Shopping gets in touch, however, it promises the funds "within days". It is also adding £250 to compensate for Matilal's unpleasantly long relationship with the company.

Novice surfers need not apply

Christopher Dearlove reports a witty example of consumer logic. His elderly mother has been mastering computers and is now ready to go online. Dearlove contacted the internet service provider Plus.net to ask about signing her up. It turns out, however, that the only way to get online is to sign up - online. Try a cybercafe, he was told when he finally managed to get through by phone. Sadly I can't get through to Plus.net to ask its reasoning. Dearlove should look elsewhere since some of the bigger boys specialise in assisting the uninitiated into cyberspace and many permit telephone registration. The website Adslguide.org.uk lists all the main ISPs. Of course, first you'll have to get online ...